


We're Gonna Fight Them All

by TheGayShipper (Miss_Vanderwaal)



Category: The Bold Type
Genre: A discussion about tolerance in fic form, F/F, Featuring a real life event, post 1x08
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-30
Updated: 2017-08-30
Packaged: 2018-12-21 14:05:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11945829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Vanderwaal/pseuds/TheGayShipper
Summary: - I love you so much – she said in the softest tone, looking into Adena’s eyes. – Why can’t all people just do the same?





	We're Gonna Fight Them All

   It was a sunny Saturday morning. Kat, Jane and Sutton had just woken up with a slight hangover. They had all drunk the night before to many spectacular news. The three of them were going to continue on working together at Scarlet; Sutton was probably getting a raise or, at the very least, a pleased smirk from Oliver once he got back from Cuba – which was already a lot –, all thanks to her bossing around that photo shoot as if she had been born to boss around; Jane’s butt facial article was a sudden hit and Kat was getting an assistant. _An assistant._ She didn’t feel grown-up enough to have an assistant yet, but it was amazing anyway.

   At least those were all the work related spectacular news. There was one spectacular news in particular, though, that wasn’t related to work at all. Adena was, at that very moment, on a flight from Paris back to New York because she had decided to “be brave” – she had said that as if she had never been brave before in her life, even though _brave_ was her middle name. Her flight would land around 4:30 in the afternoon and Kat was blissful and relieved as if Adena was coming back after spending years in a totally unreachable place, like a war zone. 

   Oh, it was indeed a perfect morning. The smell of coffee and toasts in the air. The sound of laughter and things being planned out for the weekend – which would most definitely involve Jane and Sutton as third and fourth wheels. Nothing would be able to ruin that. At least it was what Kat thought. But then Sutton casually turned the tv on CNN.

\- What the fuck? – the blonde stood up and froze in front of the screen holding the remote control, eyebrows furrowing in a mix of confusion and disbelief.

   Kat and Jane, both still sitting on the couch with their mugs of coffee in hand, glanced idly at the tv, but soon enough their eyebrows furrowed just like Sutton’s. At the bottom of the screen, it read _White supremacists march in the streets of Charlottesville, VA._

   Sutton seated herself quietly beside Jane again and the three girls stayed silent and motionless for an indefinite amount of time, mouths agape while staring at the images of white men marching on Friday night with Tiki torches in hand and chanting things like _you will not replace us_ and _white lives matter._ It was pathetic. It was pitiful. Scary, too. Actually, it would be funny if it wasn’t so terrifying and didn’t make it seem like humanity hadn’t left the Middle Ages behind.

   Jane chuckled humorlessly.

\- So this is about a bunch of white men scared of being replaced by immigrants and African Americans because _they_ are horribly bad at their jobs?

\- Guys, it’s all over – Sutton started flipping through the channels. A few of them were playing bits of _KKK: The Fight for White Supremacy_ , a BBC documentary, to give some context to last night’s event.

   _We don’t want diversity in Cville,_ an old man wearing a black t-shirt and sunglasses said amid a live commotion. _It’s not hate, it’s our heritage._  

   People, including women – which made things be even more disturbing –, were holding anti-immigration signs, and, among those, a specific one read _The Koran kills._

   _We want those towelhead terrorists out of our country,_ another man said, more aggressively.

   With that, Kat’s heart instantly clenched in pain. She was a member of a biracial family – her mother was black and her father was white –, she was obviously proud of the color of her skin, but she, unlike the majority of the black people, had always lived a privileged life. Her parents had always made good money, therefore, she had always lived in New York City and gone to private schools. Sure some white kids had looked at her funny and said things about her curly hair a few times over the years, but she had never experienced true, daily racism. For example, she had never been frisked in her life, let alone for no reason, like it happened all the time with underprivileged black youngsters; she had never been followed by a security guard while doing groceries; people didn’t cross the street at night whenever they saw her approaching them. Adena, on the other hand, had probably been persecuted by prejudice her entire life, in Iran for being a lesbian and in the U.S. – and perhaps Europe as well – for being Muslim.

\- That’s what that guy said to Adena – Kat reminded her best friends, already feeling the tears gathering in her eyes. – He called her a dirty little towelhead and I just… I wanted to shove his head in the concrete and I didn’t do it only because the cops showed up.

   Kat leaned her head onto both of her hands and let out a frustrated sigh-slash-groan-slash-sob. That same kind of rage began bubbling up in her stomach. She felt like she could put her fist through the tv. _How the fuck can KKK flags and Nazi salutes be considered freedom of speech?!_

   Jane slid a hand reassuringly across Kat’s back and Sutton rapidly turned off the tv.

\- There, no more Neo-Nazis today – the blonde dropped the remote control onto the coffee table. – Or ever, hopefully.

   Kat didn’t feel any better, though. There was a lump in her throat. Her vocal cords were aching to vibrate with her saying to Adena that she missed her. Terribly. No, Kat didn’t _just_ want to say that she missed Adena. She wanted to say that she loved her. She wanted to show that love to the world. Now more than ever. She wanted to wrap her arms around that slim body and lift Adena’s feet off the ground while kissing her at the airport for everyone to see.

\- God, I need to talk to her – Kat whispered, head leaned on her hands still. She was suddenly very afraid that something was gonna happen. – Ask her if she’s okay.

\- Hey, kid, she _is_ okay – Sutton reached for one of Kat’s knees and squeezed it lightly.

\- Of course she is – Jane kept stroking Kat’s back soothingly. – But you can DM her on Twitter or something, right? The last time I was on a plane I was eighteen so I’m not sure, but I guess most airlines nowadays have inflight WiFi.

   Kat shook her head at the idea, feeling weak all of a sudden.

\- Adena is not the biggest fan of communication via written messages. Besides, I really need to hear her voice. So, since I can’t, the next best thing for me to do is crawl onto a bed and sleep until four.

   Sutton smiled compassionately.

\- You can sleep in my bed. It’s bigger than Tiny Jane’s.

   Jane playfully rolled her eyes.

\- We’ll be here if you need anything, okay? – the smaller brunette said as Kat rose to her feet and started dragging herself towards Sutton’s room.

\- Thanks, guys – Kat threw a thankful smile to her best friends over her shoulder.

   Once she was settled onto Sutton’s bed, Kat hugged one of the girl’s pillows tightly, trying to push that heartache away, but it didn’t work. Those insults and the Neo-Nazi march itself were all she could think of. And all Kat wished was to have Adena in her arms, to tell the woman that she was so incredibly much appreciated. Kat wanted to make Adena feel safe, at home in the United States, but how could she possibly do that if there were thousands and thousands of people in the country right now trying to make the Aryan race ideology rise again?

   She grabbed Sutton’s laptop and logged into her own Twitter account, thinking that sending Adena a silly “hey, how’s your flight?” wouldn’t be that bad of an idea. At least that way Kat wouldn’t feel like Adena was so far away still.

 _#Charlottesville_ was trending, Kat noticed, first place. She clicked on it, breathing heavily. Most tweets there were kind, like “KKK will not divide us” and “We’ll stand tall against the Mommy’s Basement Nazis”, which soothed Kat very much, but, of course, there were a few bad apples, like “Let’s make America white again”. She felt a sting of anger after reading that one. “America was never white in the first place”, her fingers were itching to type, but she took a deep breath as the words Jacqueline had said to her a few weeks ago echoed in her mind. _If you engage on it, you’re giving them exactly what they want._

   Therefore, instead of wasting valuable seconds of her time replying to a useless troll, Kat opened a chat window with Adena’s name on top. It was blank, they had actually never talked on Twitter. So Kat stared at that blank window for several minutes, wanting to write something more meaningful than a simple question regarding Adena’s flight.

   There was just _so_ much she wanted to say, but the words kept getting agonizingly tangled up to each other. Kat fell asleep with Sutton’s laptop by her side on the bed.

   She had a nightmare about Adena and another Muslim ban. A longer and more strict one, that gave immigration officers the power to deport every single Muslim living stateside. She woke up at noon, crying as her two best friends tried to soothe her.

   The three of them went out for lunch and Kat went back to being super excited about Adena coming back. Only for a while, though, because _everyone_ around them was talking about Charlottesville while watching the suspended tv that was also turned on CNN. Kat didn’t dare looking up at the clips of the march, but she knew they were there and that was more than enough to make her feel sick. All the whispering about said clips made it slightly worse.

   The hours that followed lunch seemed to be twice, three times as long to Kat. Every beat of her heart was a silent but desperate cry for Adena.

   At four o’clock, she got to JFK. And that half an hour she still had to wait felt like five. But when she saw Adena coming through that landing gate, anxiously looking for her eyes in the crowd, she knew it had all been _so_ much worth it. Kat’s body stopped shaking and sweating, she felt about fifty pounds lighter. She grinned, in a way that she didn’t think was humanly possible, and ran to the woman’s arms.

   It was the tightest hug Kat had ever given or gotten. She gasped against Adena’s left shoulder, eyes closed, blood pumping through her veins and sending her throbbing headache _and_ heartache away.

\- I never thought a person could miss someone the way I missed you – she blurted out in a whisper, still not even remotely ready to let go of Adena.

\- Tell me about it.

   No matter how much time they spent tightly grasped onto one another, it would never be enough.

\- I was so scared that you weren’t gonna be able to come back – Kat began again, voice faltering a little because of the weight of her tears on it. – That they were gonna implement a new Muslim ban. Or a ban that only allowed white, straight pig-men to come into the country.

\- But they didn’t do any of that – Adena slowly parted the hug, smiling and speaking in that tone that always made giant waves of relief wash over Kat’s entire being. – I’m right here.

   Kat looked inside those eyes that were full of nothing but contagious serenity and kissed the palm that was cupping her left cheek. A dark red hijab was loosely wrapped around Adena’s hair, neck and shoulders, in contrast with a white blouse. She looked as gorgeous as ever.

\- And thank God you are – Kat’s kisses went up to Adena’s wrist and then her eyes pinned themselves onto the woman’s once again. – I absolutely love it when you wear red. Bold red. Like you. In fact, all colors look bold on you. Because you’re bold. For doing what you just did _and_ for simply existing. I freaking love you.

   Kat said all of that basically in one sole breath. Adena’s lips parted and her expression froze for a second, but then she grinned, shaking her perplexity away.

\- I freaking love you too – she said carefully, as if she didn’t use that particular slang word very often.

   It was the very first time they confessed that to each other. Kat leaned in a little so the tip of her nose would lightly brush against Adena’s.

\- Can we…?

\- Yes – Adena chuckled briefly, her lips very close to Kat’s.

   Kat then leaned in a bit more and made their lips come together, making sure that the kiss had a slow, sweet pace. She didn’t want to peel Adena’s hijab off given her own urgency to have the woman, but she also wanted to enjoy that moment as if _rush_ was a word that didn’t exist in their vocabulary.

   Kat held Adena’s face tenderly, stroking the woman’s cheeks with her thumbs. Adena’s arms were wrapped around Kat’s midsection and it all felt too good to be true for a while, as if Kat didn’t deserve Adena or her love. She quickly pushed that thought away, though, knowing she would work her ass off to deserve that woman, always.

   She breathed out against Adena’s lips, immensely relieved, once they parted the kiss, pulling the woman to another unrushed hug. People were passing by them at a fast pace, all seeming to be late for something, but it was like the two of them were in a whole different universe.

\- Judging by the words “white, straight pig-men”, I assume you’ve heard about Charlottesville – Adena said with nothing but compassion her in eyes and voice. They intertwined their hands in the air.

   Kat nodded, exhausted of overthinking about that.

\- People won’t shut up about it, my mind won’t shut up about it. It’s just so fucked up.

\- It is – Adena nodded as well. There was something else in her eyes now, something that made it clear that she had seen _many_ fucked up things in her lifetime. It was as if the fact that some human beings didn’t seem to have a heart didn’t shock her anymore.

   Kat was shocked alright. She had never seen a thing like that happen before. She had never really thought of things like the Ku Klux Klan outside her History classes, to be honest. And now there was reality telling her that it was not just a thing of the past.

   Adena spent the entire cab ride to Jane and Sutton’s place with her head on Kat’s shoulder and both of her hands clutching Kat’s left one. They barely talked during that period of time, they simply enjoyed each other’s caresses and company in general.

   Kat also rested her head on top of Adena’s once a man on the radio said that a guy – a Nazi sympathizer, precisely – had just rammed his car into counter-protesters in Charlottesville. A woman had been killed.

   The only reason why Kat didn’t start crying right then was because Adena was there, brushing her thumb from side to side on the back of Kat’s hand, silently telling her not to give up on hope.

   Jane and Sutton gave Adena long hello hugs as if the woman was already family. The hope that Kat shouldn’t give up on was right there and Kat’s eyes were suddenly flooded with happy tears.

\- You two can get comfortable on my bed – Sutton told them, pulling Jane to the front door. They would go shopping in order to give Kat and Adena some privacy. – Just let me know if things end up getting, like, moisty comfortable, ‘cause then I’ll change the sheets.

   Adena’s cheeks turned tomato red and she hid her face in her hands, giggling.

\- Yeah, bye-bye, now – Kat waved them away.

   The two women looked at each other and giggled some more once the front door closed behind Jane and Sutton. Adena put her arms gracefully around Kat’s neck and stood on her toes while they kissed. Kat didn’t plan on picking her up, it just happened once the kiss began deepening. Adena straddled Kat’s hips and Kat walked blindly into Sutton’s bedroom.

\- I didn’t know you were so strong – Adena commented flirtatiously after they slumped onto the bed.

   Kat sat more up straight with her back against the headboard. Adena was still straddling her.

\- Hey, I do SoulCycle. You better respect me.

   Adena’s response to that was one more little giggle and another kiss, which deepened ever faster than the last one. They spent several minutes with their mouths glued to one another, only stopping to breathe. Kat buried her face in Adena’s neck at one point, catching her own breath and breathing the woman in at the same time. What a great place to escape the world’s harsh realness!

   Then, Kat carefully peeled Adena’s hijab off her head, putting it around the woman’s neck like a scarf and holding its ends. She brought the soft fabric close to her nose and allowed the smell to take over her. Shampoo. Combing cream. Perfume. Skin.

\- I love you so much – she said in the softest tone, looking into Adena’s eyes. – Why can’t all people just do the same?

  Adena gave Kat back the soft stare, shaking her head and smiling just barely.

\- I don’t know. But what I do know is that we’re gonna fight them all.

\- How?

\- For starters, we can go to the solidarity march tomorrow. I heard that a whole bunch of cities are gonna do them. There’ll be people blowing on whistles, clapping their hands, chanting _love is love_ and all that. Would you like to go?

   Another grin came across Kat’s face.

\- Yeah. I’d love to. We could tell Jane and Sutton about it and I’m sure they’ll help me text everyone we know from Scarlet so they can go too. It’ll be awesome! – she laid a kiss onto Adena’s lips, excitedly. – What else can we do?

\- Well, I think we’re already doing a pretty big thing – Adena said, calmly, intertwining their hands in the air one more time. The gesture was always moving; it made their connection be visible and palpable, but now it moved Kat even more. – We’re loving each other despite everything. That’s huge.

   Kat took a second to take that in and smiled again.

\- You’re right, it is huge – she delicately pulled Adena closer by holding the ends of the hijab around the woman’s neck. She placed another soft kiss onto her lips. – So, should we make Sutton change the sheets?

   Adena went back to flirtatious mode for a moment.

\- She offered us her bed. It would be ungracious of us to turn it down, right?

**Author's Note:**

> I've wanted to write a story about the girls reacting to the Nazi marches in Charlottesville ever since they started happening, so this particular fic is very special to me. I hope you guys liked it :)


End file.
